There are two basic types of exhibits offered in the marketplace.
The first is a standard prefabricated portable component system. This type of system is normally used in small booth spaces. Portable systems are easily set up and dismantled and offer a wide variety of configurations and applications. They are also utilized in sales seminars, recruitment programs, and lobby displays. There are several manufacturers of protables in the marketplace. The first time exhibitor will normally use a portable or low-end system to accent his/her presentation at a trade show.
The second type of exhibit is referred to as a custom exhibit. The custom trade show exhibits can range from a simple 10 foot.times.10 foot booth space to a large two-story 100 foot.times.100 foot structure. The custom display will normally travel around the country, hence shipping becomes a factor in cost and design. A custom exhibit requires labor to set up and dismantle and it also requires storage arrangements. Custom exhibits are designed by either advertising departments within companies, ad agencies, exhibit design firms, or exhibit manufacturers.
Portable exhibits are light in weight and are easily moved from place to place. They will not support heavy loads, however. Panels having honeycomb cores have been used as portable exhibits. U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,313 to Downing illustrates an exhibit of this type.
Custom exhibits are much more sturdy and will support heavy loads. Such exhibits are used, for example, whenever heavy loads are to be mounted on vertical exhibit walls. Wood construction continues to dominate the custom exhibit field. Such construction typically includes wood framing, plywood sheeting and decorative materials which cover the framing and sheeting. Such exhibits are heavy and costly to build and to move from place to place.
The problems of existing exhibit panels have been overcome by the invention described and claimed in applicant's copending application Ser. No. 727,289 cited supra. Exhibits using the composite panels described and claimed therein combine the sturdiness of custom exhibits presently available with the light weight, portability and ease of assembly and disassembly which characterize standard or portable exhibits. Briefly, the composite panel of applicant's copending application comprises a multicellular (e.g. honeycomb) core, a pair of facing sheets, and a pair of rigid lightweight polyvinyl chloride sheets, each of which has a foamed center and a smooth thin skin on either side of the center, and each of which is bonded by a pressure sensitive adhesive to one of the facing sheets. Applicant has now found that one can achieve the same results without the facing sheets and with adhesives other than pressure sensitive adhesives.